MP welcomes sheep tagging derogation

Northern Isles MP Alistair Carmichael has welcomed news that the EU has granted Scottish farmers a derogation from sheep tagging rules that could allow them to avoid serious penalties when monitoring technology fails.

The derogation will also allow for some degree of leeway at inspection points, to reflect the difficulties associated with gathering sheep in hilly areas. Previously, EU officials had insisted that farmers in Scotland achieve 100 per cent compliance with electronic tagging (EID) rules.

Mr Carmichael said: “I have always maintained that the new EID rules were unworkable and place an unnecessary financial burden on our sheep farmers, without delivering the improvement in traceability that is required.

“Although we will have to wait to see how these changes work in practice, the additional flexibility offered by this derogation is welcome and will come as a real boost to our local agricultural sector.”